THE DIRECTOR’S CUT – Edition No.1

The goal? To help leaseholders feel informed, confident, connected – and part of a community. This column marks the start of NOTB’s expanded commitment to leaseholder-focused content, including a new free subscription offer for leaseholders, and contributions from a growing network of trusted industry experts.

Why I’m writing this column – and why it’s for you

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re a leaseholder who somehow found yourself sitting on the board of your RMC (possibly share-of-freehold) or RTM company. Welcome. You’re in the right place.

You’re also the group that, in my view, gets the least tailored guidance and the most responsibility in the whole of the block management sector. You’re expected to make sound decisions, navigate building safety, appoint and hold managing agents accountable, scrutinise budgets, understand legislation, mediate neighbour disputes, and sometimes reset the fire alarm panel because no-one else is picking up the phone.

And yet, the content written directly for you – the people who pay services charges and who legally carry the can – is surprisingly thin on the ground.

That’s why News on the Block and I have launched THE DIRECTOR’S CUT.

Bringing Leaseholders Closer to the Sector That Serves Them

For the last 7.5 years, I've worked as a consultant across nearly every corner of the residential block sector – with agents, RMCs, freeholders, developers, surveyors, insurance brokers, tech wizards, building safety consultants, energy brokers, on-site staffing providers, designers, photographers and more. Before that, I was a managing agent myself. And alongside all of this, I sit on two RMC boards as a director and I also volunteer with the Federation of Private Residents’ Associates (FPRA), whilst supporting The Property Institute (TPI)and NOTB.

So, I’ve seen the sector from every angle: from the boardroom table, the managing agent’s office, the site manager’s lodge and the leaseholder’s inbox.

This column is my attempt to bring those worlds closer together because good block management isn’t about “us and them.” It’s about knowledge, understanding and shared purpose.

If leaseholders and management professionals understand each other better, the entire ecosystem improves: communication flows more easily, frustrations decrease, building safety responsibilities make more sense, and service charge money is used more effectively.

Why News on the Block? Why Now?

News on the Block has always been at the centre of industry conversation, but we want to go further. There is a growing need (and loud demand!) for leaseholder-focused, director-friendly content that speaks your language.

NOTB is using this column as a launchpad for:

• a deeper national conversation about the role of leaseholder/directors

• a broader set of blogs and guidance specifically aimed at the people running RMCs and RTMs

• a new free subscription for leaseholders (watch this space)

• and a platform for other respected experts to contribute regular insight.

Leaseholders deserve to understand the sphere they’re operating in – and to feel supported, not overwhelmed.

What you can expect from this column

Each edition of THE DIRECTOR’S CUT will lift the curtain on an aspect of block living or block management. Not theory, not jargon, not politics – but the practicalities and realities that directors face every day.

Topics will include:

• How to choose (or change) a managing agent –  without the drama.

• How service charge budgets actually work (and why they’re always late).

• Understanding the Building Safety Act in human language.

• How PropTech and AI are transforming block management (and when they’re just buzzwords).

• How to build a collaborative relationship with your managing agent.

• What “good” looks like for contractors and professional services.

• Navigating neighbour politics.

• Event write-ups, industry developments and what they mean for you.

• Real examples (anonymised) from my own consulting work and from RMCs across the country.

My aim is simple: to help you make better decisions, ask better questions and run better blocks.

Because confident, informed directors create safer, happier, better-maintained homes for thousands of residents across the UK. And that helps the entire sector.

Two-way conversation 

Finally, this column isn’t just my chance to speak. It’s your chance to shape the conversation.

If you have questions, dilemmas, frustrations or topics you want covered, email NOTB and they’ll pass them to me. Think of this as a monthly check-in from someone who’s been through the same battles, seen the same pitfalls, and knows what good looks like.

And as part of my wider role with NOTB, I’ll also be encouraging other industry leaders – surveyors, insurers, safety experts, energy brokers, PropTech innovators, and managing agents – to contribute pieces aimed directly at you.

This isn’t a monologue. It’s the start of a much larger library of resources for leaseholder/directors.

In closing…

Whether you’re an experienced RMC director or someone who’s just been handed a folder at the AGM and told “congratulations, you’re now responsible for a building,” this column is for you.

My goal is to help you feel informed, empowered and connected – and to make block management a little less mysterious and a lot more manageable.

Welcome to THE DIRECTOR’S CUT.

Jonathan Channing, Industry consultant, RMC director and TPI Fellow.